Combined drum-guitar musical instrument

ABSTRACT

The body of the instrument is of rectangular configuration and has front and rear walls formed of clear, rigid plastic material. A foot pedal connected with the foot piece on which the instrument stands, is adapted to move a drumstick so that the head thereof will strike either the front or the rear wall of the body. A snare piece is detachably mounted on the front wall of the body adjacent the bridge piece to which one end of the strings are attached.

United States Patent Lander [4 1 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] COMBINED DRUM-GUITAR MUSICAL 1,653,570 12/1927 Howe ..84/173 INSTRUMENT 2,033,826 3/1936 Haium ..84/173 [72] Inventor: Max Lander, PO. Box 3353, St.

petersburg, 3373! Primary Exammer-R1chard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales [22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1970 Anomey Bacon & Thomas [21] Appl. No.: 67,409

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..84/170, 84/267, 84/411 The body of the instrument is of rectangular configu- [51] Int. Cl......Gl0d /00, GlOd 1/08, GlOd 13/02 ration and has front and rear walls formed of clear, Field of Search rigid plastic material. A foot pedal connected with the 84/41 1 foot piece on which the instrument stands, is adapted to move a drumstick so that the head thereof will [56] References C'ted strike either the front or the rear wall of the body. A UNITED STATES PATENTS snare piece is detachably mounted on the front wall of the body adjacent the bridge piece to which one end 2,709,388 5/1955 Allers ..84/299 f the Strings are attached 2,585,661 2/1952 Kluson ..84/299 1,648,713 11/1927 Andersh ..84/291 X 3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 0 I I 1 a- .55

til 060 m I J/ JJ 4/ MI, 1 4.5 11 1 4/ 7 '1)! a s1 1 1.9 1.9 .5/

COMBINED DRUM-GUITAR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT This invention relates generally to a novel musical instrument which combines in a single body a stringed instrument and a percussion instrument.

It is an object of this invention to provide a musical instrument capable of simultaneously producing a drum beat and stringed vibrations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a musical instrument which combines in a single body a guitar and a drum.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a musical instrument having a novel arrangement of soundproducing components.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred form of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein the one figure is a perspective view of the drum-git musical instrument.

The body 1 of the combined musical instrument is of rigid, rectangular configuration and includes the side walls and 11, the end walls 13 and 14, and the front and rear walls 15 and 16, secured to the side and end walls by suitable fasteners 17. Preferably, the front and rear walls 15 and 16 are formed of flat, rigid sheets of transparent plastic material such as PLEXIGLAS or LUCITE.

A neck piece 19, which carries the tuning keys 21, is mounted on the end wall 13 and extends downwardly over the upper end of the front wall 15 for a short distance.

A plurality of strings 23, six being shown in the drawing, are attached at one end to the tuning keys 21 and at the other end to a combined tail and bridge piece 25 fixedly secured to'the outer surface of the front wall 15 substantially midway between the upper and lower end walls 13 and 14.

A snare piece 27 having a plurality of snare strings 29 extends horizontally across the front wall 15 below the bridge and tail piece 25 and is detachably connected with the side walls 10 and 11 by the clamps 31 and 33.

An elongated foot piece 35 extends downwardly from the lower end wall 14 and is provided at its lower end with a floor engaging foot pad (not shown).

A base member 37 is connected at its forward end by suitable means with the lower end of the foot piece 35 and includes a pair of parallel, vertical support members 39. A drumstick 41 having a head 43 disposed adjacent the lower portion of the front wall 15 is rigidly connected at its lower end with a crossbar 45 which is rotatably mounted at either end thereof in the bearings 47 provided at the upper end of the vertical support members 39. A foot pedal 51 is pivotally connected at one end with the outer end of the base member 37. The free end of the foot pedal 51 is connected with a short arm 53 rigid with the crossbar 45 by a flexible member 55 such as a cable, chain or like non-extensible member.

The strings may be plucked or bowed to produce stringed musical tones or the head of the drumstick, which may be located adjacent either the front or rear wall, may be moved to strike the adjacent wall by actuating the foot pedal in order to provide a beat, with or without the snare piece being attached to the instrulii vibrations imparted to the body of the musical instrument by the strings or by the impact of the head of the drumstick may be picked up by a conventional microphone or other suitable sound pick-up device 60 attached to the bridge or tailpiece 25 or to the front wall 15 and the vibrations conveyed to a conventional amplifying device 62 through the conductor 64.

What I claim is:

l. A combined musical instrument, comprising: a closed hollow-body of rectangular shape; the front wall of said body being planar and unapeitured; a neck piece mounted at one end thereof on one end of said body; a bridge piece mounted on the front wall of the body midway between the opposite ends thereof; a plurality of strings connected at one end with said bridge piece and with the other end of said strings connected with turning keys carried by said neck piece; the portion of the front wall between the other end of the body and the bridge piece being unobstructed and free of attachments; a foot piece attached to the other end of said body; a drumstick having a head on one end thereof disposed adjacent the front wall of the body and between said bridge piece and said other end of said body, the other end of said drumstick extending below the body and adjacent to said foot piece; actuatable foot pedal means connected with said foot piece; and means connecting the of the end of said drumstick with said foot pedal means for bringing the drumstick head into striking engagement with the adjacent wall of the body upon actuating the foot pedal.

2. A combined musical instrument according to claim 1 in which the front and the rear walls of the body are made of transparent plastic materials.

3. A combined musical instrument according to claim 1 in which a snare piece is mounted on said body and is disposed contiguous to and extends over a wall thereof. 

1. A combined musical instrument, comprising: a closed hollowbody of rectangular shape; the front wall of said body being planar and unapertured; a neck piece mounted at one end thereof on one end of said body; a bridge piece mounted on the front wall of the body midway between the opposite ends thereof; a plurality of strings connected at one end with said bridge piece and with the other end of said strings connected with turning keys carried by said neck piece; the portion of the front wall between the other end of the body and the bridge piece being unobstructed and free of attachments; a foot piece attached to the other end of said body; a drumstick having a head on one end thereof disposed adjacent the front wall of the body and between said bridge piece and said other end of said body, the other end of said drumstick extending below the body and adjacent to said foot piece; actuatable foot pedal means connected with said foot piece; and means connecting the of the end of said drumstick with said foot pedal means for bringing the drumstick head into striking engagement with the adjacent wall of the body upon actuating the foot pedal.
 2. A combined musical instrument according to claim 1 in which the front and the rear walls of the body are made of transparent plastic materials.
 3. A combined musical instrument according to claim 1 in which a snare piece is mounted on said body and is disposed contiguous to and extends over a wall thereof. 